To “tear down the wall of comfortable and silent complicity” that worsens the “helplessness” of migrants and to “show them concern, compassion and devotion”. Pope Francis made this appeal in the Message he sent today to the participants in the Holy See-Mexico Conference on International Migration that is taking place in the Casina Pio IV in the Vatican. The Conference is promoted by the Secretariat for Relations with States of the Secretariat of State, and by the Embassy of Mexico to the Holy See, with the collaboration of the Pontifical Academy of Sciences and the Migrants and Refugees Section of the Dicastery for Promoting Integral Human Development. “In order to acknowledge and respond to the current migration situation, the assistance of the entire international community is needed – the Pope said in his message, read out by Mgr. Paul Richard Gallagher, Secretary for Relations with States -, since its transnational dimension exceeds the capacities and resources of many States. Such international cooperation is important at every stage of migration: from departing one’s country of origin all the way to reaching one’s destination, as well as facilitating reentry and transit”. “In each of these countries, migrants are vulnerable, feeling alone and isolated. The recognition of this fact is vitally important if we wish to give a concrete and dignified response to this humanitarian challenge”. Pope Francis also recalled that the “issue of migration is not simply one of numbers, but of persons, each with his or her own history, culture, feelings and aspirations. These persons, our brothers and sisters, need ‘ongoing protection’, independently of whatever migrant status they may have. Their fundamental rights and their dignity need to be protected and defended”. Particular concern, he insisted, “must be shown for migrant children and their families, those who are victims of human trafficking rings, and those displaced due to conflicts, natural disasters and persecution”. The Pope also encouraged the participants to hear the plea of our brothers and sisters “who ask us to recognize them as such”, and “to give them an opportunity to live in dignity and peace”.